Ensemble History: Music of Bali Ensemble

The Music of Bali Performance Group was formed during the 1959-60 academic year.  In May 1960, they performed in the “Festival of Oriental Music and the Related Arts,” presented by the UCLA Music Department, with Mantle Hood as director. The group remained an extra-curricular “study group” until the 1964-65 academic year, when the course Music 45A/145A (Music and Dance of Bali) was offered for the first time. The course was divided into two sections: gamelan gong and gender wayang. Instructors of the Music of Bali Ensemble include: Mantle Hood (1960-74); I Wayan Gandera (1960-64); Tjokorda Mas (1960-66); Hardja Susilo (1967-71); KRT Wasitodipuro (1977-79); I Nyoman Wenten (1995 to the present); Nanik Wenten (1995 to the present).

I Wayan Gandera and Tjokorda Mas Photo: Courtesy Ethnomusicology Archive	Mantle Hood teaching Gertrude Robinson Photo: Courtesy Ethnomusicology Archive
Music of Bali dancers Photo: Courtesy Ethnomusicology Archive	Mantle Hood leading Balinese gamelan Photo: Courtesy Ethnomusicology Archive
I Nyoman Wenten teaching in the Gamelan Room (2003) Photo: Todd Cheney	I Nyoman Wenten Photo: Courtesy I Nyoman Wenten
The Music of Bali Ensemble (2006) Photo: Todd Cheney	The Music of Bali Ensemble dancers (2006) Photo: Todd Cheney